"Raymond E. Feist - Empire Saga 2 - Servant Of The Empire" - читать интересную книгу автора (Feist Raymond E)

every attempt of the overseer to catch him. Then, strangely,
he began to plod like a pregnant needra cow. The overseer
came close, and as the barbarian dodged the near miss of the
lash, he shuffled, slid, dragged his heels and toes, and kicked
up an excessive amount of dust. He also crashed often into

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those of his comrades who had received their allotment of
trousers and shirt. These suddenly clumsy men fell and
rolled, and under cover of dust and movement, cloth
miraculously disappeared. Some was bundled and passed to
other slaves; occasionally a shirt would unfurl and land, to
be picked up by another man. In this manner the clothing
passed-at last to the man by the palisade. At opportune
moments he stuffed the fabric through a gap and caught the
shell counters that served as coin within the Empire that
someone slipped through from without. These the
Midkemian wiped on his hairy chest. Then he placed them
in his mouth and swallowed them.

'There must be beggar boys on the other side.' Lujan
shook his head. 'Or perhaps some bargeman's child.
Though why a slave should think he has use for coin is a
mystery.'

'They certainly show great ingenuity ... and nerve,'
Mara observed, and Lujan regarded her keenly. That she
had mistakenly conceded honourable attributes to men who
by the inflexible laws of society were accorded less stature
than the lowest scabby beggars in the gutters made the
Strike Leader pause. Desperation had taught Mara to
reappraise the traditions of her people with sometimes
ingenious results. Yet although Lujan himself had sworn to
her service through just such an unorthodox twist, even he
could not guess what she might see in a lot of barbarian
slaves. Trying to fathom her fascination, the warrior
regarded the ongoing conflict down below.

The overseer had called in reinforcements. Several
brawny guards equipped with curved hooks of roughened
needra hide raced into the compound and ran at the unruly
redhead; slaves who tried to hamper them were elbowed
aside or kicked with sharp-toed sandals. One barbarian fell
with a bloodied shin. Seeing that, the others quickly cleared
the soldiers' path. The redheaded ringleader also slowed his

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pace. He allowed himself to be cornered rather than suffer